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Thursday, April 30, 2015

I am back! I turned in my last final yesterday at 1:20pm (Only 5 hours after I entered the room... ugh) and am on break for a few weeks. After months of studying non-stop, it feels so amazing. Year 2 of law school is in the books and I am 1 year away from graduation.

Lately...

I joined Class Pass! After debating in for a while, I decided to try it when Class Pass released a great special (buy three months, get $100 back). I am loving it! Here is what I have tried so far:

Tuesday: Forme Barre Fusion at Forme Studios. This class was basically a barre class without the barre! My abs are so sore from all the core focus, and I found the class really challenging. I never realized how dependent I am on the barre for stability. The instructor was excellent, so I plan to go back next week and bring a friend.

Wednesday: Yoga at Wide Angle Yoga. I took this class yesterday afternoon so decompress from finals. I hadn't taken a yoga class in about a year (I know. Don't judge), so I was really nervous about my flexibility. The instructor was really hands on and helped me get into each pose and stretch was further than I thought possible.
I really loved that this class was so small - a lot of yoga classes are huge and I don't feel like I get proper assistance. It makes me worried that I will injure myself! So this was perfect for me.

Thursday: Today I am trying Extreme Core Fusion at Exhale Spa and Fitness. No idea what to expect on that one, so I will keep you posted.

The end of finals. AR brought home prosecco and tulips for me last night to celebrate the end of finals. He is the sweetest :)

Last night I make these chocolate chunk cookies from Smitten Kitchen for AR to take to his office today. Obviously, AR and I had to sample them and they are excellent. I used two large chocolate bars and I left them in huge pieces. I love the big pools of chocolate as compared to the usual chocolate chips. It absolutely upgraded my cookies. I did omit the flaked salt because I didn't have any. Oops.

Tonight, AR and I are going on a picnic! He finishes a huge project at work this morning and I finished my second year, so we wanted to celebrate. After talking about a few restaurants, we decided to embrace the gorgeous weather and head to the park. I'm heading to Alon's this afternoon to pick up some goodies. (check my instagram if you want to see what I find! username: hrw1126).

Monday, April 27, 2015

I am joining the party late today because I had a final exam this morning (only one more left). I am sitting on my couch now, eating a large slice of homemade cinnamon bread and trying to gear up for some more studying.

Obviously, this weekend was filled with lots of study time, but a few bright spots!

Saturday was a special day. April 25th, anyone?

On Sunday, AR and I went shopping for mother's day gifts and cards at our my favorite place: Paper Source. We picked up some adorable gifts that I will share later, but also snagged this doormat.
On the fourth of july last year, my doormat went missing and I was distraught. It was seriously a $12 mat from Target, but I was so upset that someone might have taken it!

On Sunday night, I made a batch of roasted chickpeas for us to munch on while AR cooked dinner. These have become my favorite snacks and i love that they are full of protein and flavor.

I just rinsed and drained two cans of chick peas and dried them with paper towels. I placed them on a large baking sheet, topped them with 1 tablespoon of oil and a generous sprinkle of cajun seasoning, and roasted them at 400* for 35 minutes. So so good!

For my next batch, I want to try topping them with cinnamon and sugar :)

Friday, April 24, 2015

It is the weekend, y'all and I am THIS close to being done with finals. One more Monday and Wednesday, and I am done with the second year of law school. Hallelujah!

1. This cinnamon bread will change your life.
Tuesday was the day before my first exam and it was a complete disaster. I woke up to the smell of burning electrical. When I turned on water, it came out boiling. Clearly, my water heater was done. Luckily, my building was happy to replace it for me. Unluckily, it would take them until 2 o'clock. So there were several hours with lots of maintenance workers in my home. Joy.

Anyways, back to the bread. I made the Pioneer Women's Cinnamon Bread while waiting for my water heater and it is so fantastic. The BEST toast... I swear.

2. Speaking of sweets
After said exam, AR took me out for frozen yogurt after before dinner (appetizer, anyone?). And then my building did a froyo social yesterday evening, which I obviously couldn't miss. So I've had froyo for the last two nights and I am wondering if I can convince AR to make tonight the third :)

3. Class PassClass Pass recently came to Atlanta and I am thinking about trying it. They have a deal right now that gives a $100 Visa gift card if you sign up for three months. Any thoughts on the program?
For those who haven't heard of class pass, it is $79 a month and allows you to take classes and gyms and studios across the city. Atlanta's include Flywheel, Pure Barre, Blast, and numerous yoga and Pilates studios. You can only do 3 classes a month at each location, which is a slight drawback.

4. New Purse
Ann Taylor had their flash sale over the weekend and a friend and I took a study break to browse online. I ended up snagging this black bag for $45 (originally $98) and free shipping. The best part? it already came in the mail and I LOVE it. This is my second bag from Ann Taylor and I love the quality and price point.

I also snagged this white dress for 50% off, but it doesn't come until tomorrow :)

Monday, April 20, 2015

I've been a bad blogger lately... with all this finals prep, there just hasn't been much to share. I have a hundred and ten recipes to blog about and lots of fun wedding prep to update, but it will have to wait. I finish finals on April 29th, so let the countdown begin!

On to the weekend...

Which started with a super late Thursday (or very early Friday?) study session at the library. Complete with cake pops and Zoe's hummus because thats how we roll.

On Friday, I studied late and AR worked late. We had plans to finish our wedding registry, but it just didn't happen. If you are coming to the wedding, please just bring cake pops :)

Friday dinner was a night at Flip Burger. I had a turkey burger. For dessert, I ordered a nutella milkshake topped with TOASTED MARSHMALLOWS. Oh my gosh, it was so so good. I had plans to share with AR, but I would say he got 3 good sips. Maybe. Of course, I carried it home with me to drink while I watched this week's Nashville episode.

Saturday morning was perfect... even if it was the weekend before finals. We woke up early and headed to the farmers market for fresh veggies, coffee, and these adorable biscuit sandwiches. Mine was filled with an egg and spinach omelet and a slice of sharp cheese.

AR's had pimento cheese and thick-cut bacon. I ate about half of mine before I was stuffed, but it was amazing. Check out Boom Biscuits if you are in Atlanta!

Friday, April 10, 2015

Jumping in to link up with Natasha and friends for some Friday favorites.

1. Engagement photos
I gave y'all a peak at some wedding plans yesterday, but I couldn't wait to share some fun for my engagement photos. AR and I had gone back and forth about doing engagement photos. We just had a collection of fabulous photos done in November for our christmas cards, so we were not sure we really needed them.

Then our wedding photographer called and said that she wanted us to meet her in Savannah next month for a photo shoot and I was like YES! Savannah is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, so I cannot wait to shoot there.

our christmas card photos

love atlanta in the fall.

Of course, the opportunity to practice with the photographer before the wedding is also super important, so this will be fun. We are looking forward to a little mini-vacation to Savannah before summer craziness happens.

2. Speaking of summer craziness...
AR and I have a packed schedule for summer and it just keeps getting busier.
We head to NOLA and Houston for weddings. We have a baby dedication in Baton Rouge. AR has his bachelor party in NOLA. I have my bachelor party somewhere (not telling). And an engagement party up north. Now we have this trip to Savannah. And of course our wedding in August.
I am exhausted already.

3. Dinner mess
So I am an avid meal planner - if you read my blog, you know this. Yet this week had a bit of a fail. I had planned for stir-fry with quinoa (AR's suggestion). But when I got home at almost 7pm, we couldn't find the quinoa. Apparently we were out.
It was too late to start brown rice, because we were both starving. So we have stir-fry with nothing :(

4. Nashville
I love Nashville. I was so sad that it was off all March, but it finally came back on the first. Did anyone watch the episode? It was awful! I haven't seen this Wednesday's yet, but I am hoping it was a little better.
I hope this doesn't turn into Revenge for me and become too ridiculous.

5. RHWNY
On a positive note, Bethany Frankle is back on Real Housewives of New York, so all is well in the world. I am tabling this show until after finals, but I seriously cannot wait!

I am off to study until AR and I's lunch date! Have an awesome weekend!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Hello All! My app from the Knot just alerted me that my wedding is in 128 days y'all - 128 days!

It also keeps reminding me that I need to establish a beauty plan for my wedding. How about a beauty plan for my life? I am still trying to master blowdrying my hair on a daily basis. I've got bigger fish to fry.

Anyways, I wanted to share updates on the wedding plans and goals for this month.

March Goals

Booked our pastor to officiate the ceremony

Booked a harpist for the ceremony and cocktail hour

Ordered bridesmaid dresses : this was an ordeal, but its done.

Booked our wedding photographer

Remained consistent with workouts: ehhh. I've been working out, but mileage has been low.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Hey y'all! So glad you stopped by - I need some wedding registry help!

Our weekend started on Friday with the most fantastic weather ever. It was in the 80's on Friday and we absolutely loved it. Of course, AR was off of work and enjoyed the weather by running outside and walking to a local breakfast stop. I enjoyed the weather by studying on an outside table at the law library.

we had the doors open to enjoy the sunshine!

We headed to downtown Decatur for the evening. I swear, every time we make the short drive over the Decatur, we spend the whole time saying "I would live here." It is just the nicest community and so full of great restaurants, shops, and outdoor space. Love.

We had dinner at Chai Pani, which is an Indian street food place. My favorite: The kale pakoras, which AR describes as "balls of batter with bits of kale." So yummy.

don't those look healthy?

Sunday, we started the wedding registry! We made great progress at Macy's and the woman who helped us was fantastic. She was so knowledgable and gave tons of advice.

aaron mastered the scanning gun :) Anyone want to get us a wok?

I am kind of struggling on the dish front though. I am only registering for every day dishes because (1) I have my great grandmothers fine china and (2) I don't have storage space in my apartment for another set.

I love this set from Pottery Barn and their are tons of available serving platters, but I worry it is too simple and I will get tired of it. My plan is to add in accent plates to jazz it up though.

I also like this set from Crate and Barrel, which is a little more decorative (there are tiny white dots on the rim), but keeps a blank slate for other accents.

white pearl set from crate & barrel

Any thoughts on quality of the dishes or anything? I am so conflicted.

All in all, we had a fun time and will return to the process this week in effort to finish up!

Friday, April 3, 2015

1. Birthday Party Fun!
Last night we celebrated the birthday of my dear friend Caroline. Her and I were in the same section our first year of law school (this means you take every class together for two semesters). She is the sweetest and we and a blast celebrating her day at the Painted Pin, an upscale bowling/bar/entertainment space in Atlanta.
I told Aaron that guys were sending rounds of drinks to our bowling lane for Caroline's birthday and he said "drink with you left hand"... hahah!

Of course, we ended the night with ice cream at Jeni's!

2. Speaking of Jeni's
I read this awesome article on checking your sweet tooth on Lauren Conrad's blog. Have you read her blog? I think it is full of useful information!

3. Wedding Registry
Tomorrow, Aaron and I start the process of building our wedding registry. We have gotten lots of pressure from friends and family to do this, so we need to start. I think I have finally settled on a set of dishes... let's hope. #queenofbeingindecisive

So far, I plan to register at Macy's and Pottery Barn. Any other thoughts? I'd love to hear advice on things to register for or things to skip!

4. Grocery Shopping
Last weekend I shared my love of early morning grocery store trips. I found this awesome printable on the CooksSmart website. Isn't this helpful? I need to print it for my refrigerator.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Hello everyone and Happy April Fools day! Today I am sharing a recipe I recently fell in love with from Smitten Kitchen, along with my meals from yesterday (What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday?)

I had an early workout filled with abs, legs, and a 3 mile run. I came home and made a large Vega nutrition shake with half natural, half chocolate protein. I added almond milk, ice, and frozen bananas.

Vega claims there are 6 servings of greens and 20 grams of protein in each scoop. Does anyone have thoughts on this? To be honest, I am not convinced that drinking one of their shakes is the same as eating 6 cups of greens, but I really do enjoy them and like to add any extra vitamins to my diet!

Served with toast topped with peanut butter and honey. Note: buying the just-peanuts peanut butter is only helpful if you don't drizzle it with honey ;)

LOVE Smitten Kitchen for all things cooking and baking. Her recipes have never failed me.

For lunch, I had a muffin, apple and peanut butter, and a bag of carrot and celery slices. All unpictured, because I was in class.

I spent my afternoon studying at home. I finished with more lunch at about 2pm (can I still call this lunch?). Tomato soup and sliced turkey from Whole Foods.

Aaron and I cooked dinner together: we made chicken pot pie with the leftover roasted chicken. We were both starving, so I skipped the side of steamed broccoli I had planned on eating... lets hope that Vega really has all those greens! ;)

Oh, and after dinner, I indulged in some HGTV with my new favorite show, "Fixer Upper." Has anyone watched this? I am obsessed.

About Me

I'm a new southerner, running enthusiast, and baking fanatic. I am always looking for something sweet to bake and a new restaurant to true! Join me as I navigate my twenties, my next race, and new recipes!